THEATER OF BLOOD

In 1985, Stuart Gordon gave us Re-Animator, a film based on a short story by H.P. Lovecraft. (The cult classic even won a critics prize at the Cannes Film Festival.) Gordon went on to direct four more Lovecraftian films (including From Beyond and the wet 'n' creepy Dagon), as well as some critically acclaimed theater, including Re-Animator star Jeffrey Combs as Edgar Allan Poe in the Steve Allen Theater's smash hit Nevermore. Collaborating with Re-Animator co-writers Dennis Paoli and William J. Norris, as well as the guys behind its gore  Tony Doublin, John Naulin and John Beuchler  Gordon presents Re-Animator: The Musical, a show so bloody the first row of this intimate venue has been designated a "splash zone." (Aptly named composer-lyricist Mark Nutter not only scored Muppets From Space but penned a delightful ditty called "The Baby Shredder Song.") "I guess he just wasn't fresh enough," laments medical student Herbert West (Graham Skipper) as he attempts to bring the dead back to life, including a zombified George Wendt (as West's doomed med school dean). Seasoned opera vet Jesse Merlin  delightful as the president of the United States in The Beastly Bombing  loses his head for the dean's daughter. Fridays-Sundays, 8 p.m.; Fridays-Sundays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3:30 & 8 p.m.; Fridays, 8 & 11:59 p.m. Starts: Feb. 18. Continues through May 29, 2011